• Results: Class A state tournament

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NORFOLK - About a month ago, Grand Island Senior High's Abbie Otto made a promise to girls golf coach Kelli Jeffries.

Otto promised to help the Islanders win a state championship.

"She said, 'I'm going to bring you a state championship,'" Jeffries said. "I didn't know if that meant this year."

As it turns out, it was this year.

Otto shot an 81 on the final day of the Class A state tournament Tuesday at the Norfolk Country Club to finish third individually with a two-day total of 166.

But much more importantly, that helped the G.I. sophomore deliver on her promise as the Islanders claimed their second state team championship and first since 2004.

The Islanders trailed Lincoln Southwest by seven strokes after day one, but shot a 334 on the second day - 10 strokes better than the Silver Hawks' 344 - to edge Southwest for the team title 685-688.

"It was a great second day for us," Jeffries said. "You never really know what's going to happen on a golf course. I think our kids really competed today. We talked about how this is a grind. It's one hole at a time. You just have to keep in the moment and not think too much.

"I really liked the way our kids competed."

The Islanders and Silver Hawks had gone head-to-head in every invitational this season. The two teams tied at the G.I. Invitational, but Southwest won in a playoff.

The only time Grand Island had beaten Southwest was at the Norfolk Invitational which, like the state meet, was held at the Norfolk Country Club.

"We like this course," Jeffries said. "It was a great day, a great performance by a lot of girls."

The Silver Hawks had also nipped the Islanders by one stroke at the district meet at Riverside Golf Club in Grand Island.

"We didn't feel like we played that well yesterday," Jeffries said of the day one results. "We didn't score that poorly, but we didn't feel like we played that well. We've been right there with Southwest. Just getting nipped by them at districts was kind of still sticking in us. We thought we gave that one away, so we wanted to give it a good shot here and we did."

Otto said the Islanders knew they were one of the top three teams in the state along with Southwest and Norfolk. The Panthers did finish third, but it was a rather distant third at 716.

The Islanders felt good after the first day even though they were trailing by seven strokes.

"Our second day, we called it the "G.I Day,' and we just needed to come back and win it," Otto said. "We were only down by seven, and that's not much when you're playing golf with a team. We buckled down and did it."

Southwest took the top two individual spots with senior Gentry Carveth first at 163 and senior Emma Mabry second at 165.

Otto was golfing in the same threesome with Mabry.

"I just knew I had to do as good as I could and do better than yesterday," Otto said of her day two strategy. "I just had to keep up with the girl I played with from Southwest. I tried."

Otto was one of three Islanders to medal. Sophomore Tori Peers finished tied for sixth at 170 while senior Zandria Cole was 11th at 171. Sophomore Leigh Uhing shot 178 and senior Jennifer Wetzel 179.

Jeffries said that balance was the key for the Islanders.

"That kind of takes the pressure off," Jeffries said. "If you're off, you know there is probably another good score you're going to count. That's really how you win it. We have five kids who can score."

It may not have been a bad thing to be in second after the first day either.

"I don't know if it's easier to be the one that's ahead a little bit the second day, or the one that's behind," Jeffries said. "But our kids just came out and gave it their all. They swung away and played confident. We were just able to kind of chip away here and there.

"We had a pretty good front, then hung it together on the second nine. It was a great day."

And it was a day on which Otto delivered on her promise.

"It means a lot," Otto said. "We got our coach the first state championship she's ever had."